Coroner: Heat factor in inmate deaths

Two prisioners died earlier this week in non-air-conditioned area of M.C. prison.

Two prisioners died earlier this week in non-air-conditioned area of M.C. prison.

August 05, 2006

MICHIGAN CITY (AP) -- Heat killed an inmate this week at the mostly un-air-conditioned Indiana State Prison and contributed to the death of another, a coroner said. Prison spokesman Barry Nothstine said he had not received a report on the cause of death yet, but said prison officials will review what steps they can take to protect prisoners. "We'll try to keep this from happening again," Nothstine said Thursday. "This is an unusual incident, and you have the same thing out in the street. You have people that are dying from heat-related incidents. To say that we can have it perfect and not happen again, I don't know that you can do that." Nothstine said he could not recall in his 19 years at the prison an inmate who died solely from the heat, as the coroner's office said Ricky Christmas had. He did recall cases in which heat was a contributing factor. Christmas, 26, died Tuesday of hyperthermia, LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said. "The heat caused his death, there's no other way to put it," Sullivan said. The heat wave, which sent temperatures into the 90s across the state, also contributed to the death of Harold Montgomery, 52, on Sunday, Sullivan said. Hyperthermia, an enlarged heart and pulmonary congestion all contributed equally to his death, Sullivan said. "He had underlying heart disease and lung disease and the heat just exacerbated those conditions. But you can't blame his death solely on heat," Sullivan said. A cold front brought storms and relief from the heat to northern and central Indiana Thursday. Both Montgomery and Christmas were housed in a cell block reserved for about 100 inmates who are being isolated for disciplinary problems. A total of 1,916 inmates were being held at the maximum-security prison on Thursday. After Montgomery died, prison officials checked with medical personnel to see if there were other inmates with serious medical conditions that needed special care, Nothstine said. Fifty inmates were identified and moved to other facilities, he said. The prison went on a holiday schedule under which all work at the prison was canceled and inmates were let out of their cells longer. "So they got outside. They got in the breeze more," he said. "Fire hydrants were opened and cooling centers were opened." The cooling centers -- a large gymnasium and the medical area -- are air-conditioned. Most of the rest of the prison does not have air conditioning. Inmates in the unit where Montgomery and Christmas were held also were allowed to shower as often as they wanted, he said. Inmates also were given bottles of water, although they have access to water in their cells, Nothstine said. Montgomery, who was convicted in Morgan County, was serving a 22-year prison sentence for dealing cocaine and a four-year sentence of possession of a handgun with obliterated markings. Christmas was convicted of child molesting in Johnson County in 2004. He was expected to be released in November.